
Claudia Grisales
Claudia Grisales is a congressional reporter assigned to NPR's Washington Desk.
Before joining NPR in June 2019, she was a Capitol Hill reporter covering military affairs for Stars and Stripes. She also covered breaking news involving fallen service members and the Trump administration's relationship with the military. She also investigated service members who have undergone toxic exposures, such as the atomic veterans who participated nuclear bomb testing and subsequent cleanup operations.
Prior to Stars and Stripes, Grisales was an award-winning reporter at the daily newspaper in Central Texas, the Austin American-Statesman, for 16 years. There, she covered the intersection of business news and regulation, energy issues and public safety. She also conducted a years-long probe that uncovered systemic abuses and corruption at Pedernales Electric Cooperative, the largest member-owned utility in the country. The investigation led to the ousting of more than a dozen executives, state and U.S. congressional hearings and criminal convictions for two of the co-op's top leaders.
Grisales is originally from Chicago and is an alum of the University of Houston, the University of Texas and Syracuse University. At Syracuse, she attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she earned a master's degree in journalism.
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Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman told a House committee that phone records prove several immediate requests for military backup were made in the first hour of the Jan. 6 breach.
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The officials testifying Tuesday resigned in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said, "None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred."
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The legislation includes setting up a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but its fate in Congress, which has rejected such measures for the past two decades, is uncertain.
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The U.S. Capitol police union has said their leadership failed to protect them on January 6. The union wants acting Chief Yogananda Pittman and a half-dozen other officers to be held accountable.
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The House members are beginning their second and final day of arguments before the defense team presents their side. On Thursday, managers plan to focus on impact "beyond the obvious physical harms."
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Aides for the House managers' team say members will present footage from Capitol security cameras that they call "devastating." Wednesday is the first of two days of arguments for the prosecution.
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"The enormity of the multiple leadership failures both in leading up to the insurrection, and in the Department's response to it, have convinced us there is no other choice," the union head says.
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The Senate trial began Tuesday on one article the House approved, charging former President Donald Trump with incitement of insurrection for the Capitol riot. Most senators want a short trial.
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The Texas Republican died after he tested positive for the coronavirus more than two weeks ago. Wright had remained in isolation and was also being treated for cancer.
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A sitting Congressman, a member-elect and an aide have been among those who have died. Outbreaks have marked the past year, even as lawmakers started receiving the vaccine in December.